Ugly Toes

I actually called the high school today, and found out the track is closed during school hours (7-3:15) and on Friday nights (football games). The lady I spoke with wasn't sure about practices, but referred me to a website where I could see athletic schedules so that I could see if there were games on the fields. I'll probably need to e-mail the cross country coach to see if s/he can tell me about practices so that I can keep using the track for my VO2 workouts.

I decided I needed to run a little farther before the intervals than I did last week. Partly so I wouldn't have as much to run at the end, but also because I think I need to do more work with tired legs. I decided to just run on the track instead of running towards the lake like last week. So I ran a really easy, fairly slow 5K. I switched directions twice (after 4 and 8 laps) because that's what I used to do when running longer on the track. It's better for your knees, IIRC, (and probably IT bands) to switch up which way you run into the turns.

Upon hitting the 5K mark, I launched into my 600m intervals. I wore my regular watch instead of the GPS partly because I didn't need the distance measuring for the track part of my workout, but mainly because I like running intervals with my normal watch better. I don't remember why or when I started doing it, but sometime in high school I started running intervals with my watch in my hand. It's a lot easier to hit the split button when the watch is in your hand than when you have to cross your body to hit it on your wrist.

So I ran 5 x 600m with 200m recoveries. I tried to run the recoveries slower to try and get closer to the 90 seconds recommended, but I wasn't successful. I felt really strong on each of the intervals. I targeted 2:29, but ran each one faster than that. I was on a roll! After the last 600m, I stopped briefly to change watches, and headed off the track for an easy 2.6 miles.

5000m | 30:00
600m | 2:28 (6:37/mi)
200m | 1:16
600m | 2:26 (6:32/mi)
200m | 1:18
600m | 2:25 (6:29/mi)
200m | 1:15
600m | 2:24 (6:26/mi)
200m | 1:19
600m | 2:24 (6:26/mi)
2.6 miles | 25:32

So I'm still feeling pretty good about Saturday's half. Sure I wish the last 2 miles would've been better, but I am so proud of how hard I pushed myself overall. There were points that I probably would've just continued on, being satisfied with the way things were going, but instead pushed myself to run harder - to challenge myself. At the turnaround, as I saw who was ahead and who was behind, I felt like I was on the verge of something special.

But now I'm up in the air for my marathon goal. 3:40 has been my "B" goal for awhile, with 3:30-3:35 being the "A" goal. After Saturday, 3:40 has been shoved into the "C" goal space. I think I can go under 3:30 - but how much under? The calculator predicts 3:22 (7:45/mi) which sounds awesome, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't want to get in too far over my head, but I also don't want to sell myself short. I guess I'll have to see what I can do in my "tune-up races" and on my next MRP workout.

Observant Pfitzers might notice I'm on the wrong week. Instead of doing the big 55 mi week, I've switched it with the following week. Doing a tune-up race this weekend works better for me, and I like the idea of going from my 43 mi recovery to 50 then 55. I'm still deciding if I'm going to run a 10K here in town on Saturday or go up to the cities on Monday to run the 10K/5K double.

I'm starting to debate whether I want to try and carry my own water for the marathon. I think I was dehydrated on Saturday, especially since I had a headache for most of the rest of the day. Since I don't like to fully stop at the stations, I don't get enough water down. But carrying water sucks ... I don't want to wear my fuel belt, but my handheld won't last long enough. And Chicago is too big for me to have the Engineer hand off new bottles to me. But then again, it shouldn't be that hot on race day (I expect it to be pretty chilly) and I ran through the stations at Freescale and was fine. I need to not overthink this.

I'm really looking forward to the marathon and seeing what I can do. Maybe the 5th time really will be the charm. But either way (and you all can remind me of this if I complain otherwise), I'm really glad I stepped up to the Pftiz program. Shitty 14 mile mid-week run aside, it hasn't been as difficult as I'd thought it might be and I find I really like running 40-50 mpw. Plus it's obviously making me faster - I can't argue with my racing this summer. I sometimes feel bad about how slow I do my recovery and general aerobic runs when I compare myself to other Pfitz bloggers. A wise man advised me a few months ago to "make [my] hard days hard and [my] easy days easy," which I think I've been doing. And I don't feel so bad about myself after seeing I can run hard when it counts.

I feel like I am in such good shape right now, which makes me wonder if I'm completely crazy for hoping to get pregnant this winter instead of seeing where the running goes. But maybe it makes the best sense to get pregnant while in the best shape ... I talked with KR on Saturday, who told me that she only pushed for 15 minutes! When it was time to push, the nurse said it usually took about an hour but since it was her first it might take up to 3 hours. She even had an epidural, which I understand normally slows down the pushing. She ran up until the last 2 days, and she said she only didn't run those days because she decided to sleep in instead. I know every woman is different, but it seems starting out in great shape not only will make it easier to return later but also will make things easier during ... lots to think about ... I'm seeing the doctor on Friday at which point I'll find out if we get the "greenlight" or if I need vaccines or have things to work on first (possibly body fat, but I think I made a little headstart with my ice cream eating lately).